A COUPLE who had been together for 60 years died 12 days apart from each other.

Peter and Elizabeth 'Betty' Waring met while Betty worked in a pub in Blackburn in 1959 and the rest was history, their daughter April Marsh said.

The couple, who had two children, ran the former Millstone Pub in Eanam and the Royal Oak in Highfield Road, during their years running pubs in Blackburn.

They also ran hotels and B&Bs in the south of England before returning north, with Mr Waring initially getting a job at felt producing Scapa Porritt, while Mrs Waring worked in several factories.

When they decided to start a family they returned to the pub trade.

In 1988, Mr Waring suffered a stroke at 54 years old. Despite being told by doctors he had just 48 hours to live, he made a degree of recovery, but without the use of his right arm, limited mobility and not having the ability to speak.

Mrs Marsh, 55, said her mum became her dad’s fulltime carer.

She said: “Over the following 30 years my father had a further two strokes and three heart attacks, every time refusing to be beaten and leave my mum.

“She continued to devote her life to looking after him.

“She was a brilliant woman and did everything for my dad.”

Mrs Marsh said her mother was diagnosed with terminal pulmonary fibrosis a few years ago. She was relying on supplemented oxygen and a wheelchair and moved into Springfield Cottage Residential Care Home.

Mrs Marsh said: “Eventually she could no longer carry on looking after her husband. But she didn’t like that, she saw it as ‘he’s my husband and only I can look after him’.”

Mrs Waring died on October 26 at the age of 78, with Mr Waring dying on November 8, aged 85.

Mrs Marsh said: “They were inseparable, they hadn’t spent much time away from each other apart from the odd night in hospital for 60 years.

“Despite still having all his family around him, my dad looked lost. He was without the love of his life. He was different, he wasn’t unhappy, he was lost.

“I think in the end he died of a broken heart and wanted to be with her.”

The couple will have a joint funeral, with a service at the Red Rose Suit in Ewood Park on Friday at 2pm. All family and friends are welcome to attend.

Mrs Marsh said: “They were both very outgoing, confident people - when owning pubs you need to be like that. They loved each other so much. They lived, laughed, loved together, died together and it is only right that they continue their journey on to the next chapter of their adventure together.”

The couple left behind daughter Mrs Marsh, son Mark Waring, 44, four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.